RALEIGH (May 30, 2013 )— The tax plans released today in the House and Senate Finance committees go down three different roads that all lead to the same place: tax cuts for the rich, higher taxes for everyone else, and no benefit to the state’s economy.

That’s because the proposed shift away from the state income tax – the only state tax based on ability to pay – means higher sales taxes. These are the taxes that represent the greatest share of the incomes of middle- class and low-income North Carolinians.

Claims that income tax cuts will create jobs and boost the economy don’t hold up against other states’ experience. Instead, North Carolina will lose the resources needed to pay for things that businesses and families rely on, like our neighborhood schools and world-class universities.